::Locality 1.14 F<sub>2</sub>/F<sub>3</sub> relationships within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation on the eastern limb of the F3 Assapol Synform. [NM 4165 1847]

::Locality 1.14 F<sub>2</sub>/F<sub>3</sub> relationships within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation on the eastern limb of the F3 Assapol Synform. [NM 4165 1847]

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=== [[Moine geology of the Ross of Mull. Itinerary C. Structure and lithologies within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation, western linb of the Assapol Synform - an excursion|Excursion 1 Ross of Mull. Itinerary C. Structure and lithologies within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation, western linb of the Assapol Synform]] ===

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=== [[Moine geology of the Ross of Mull. Itinerary C. Structure and lithologies within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation, western linb of the Assapol Synform - an excursion|Itinerary C. Structure and lithologies within the Ardalanish Striped and Banded Formation, western linb of the Assapol Synform]] ===

=== [[Moine geology of the Ross of Mull. Itinerary D. Western limb and core of the Assapol Synform - an excursion|Excursion 1 Ross of Mull. Itinerary D. Western limb and core of the Assapol Synform ]] ===

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=== [[Moine geology of the Ross of Mull. Itinerary D. Western limb and core of the Assapol Synform - an excursion|Itinerary D. Western limb and core of the Assapol Synform ]] ===

=== [[Moine geology from Glenfinnan to Morar - an excursion#Western margin of the vertical belt and low grade rocks of the western 'flat' belt|Excursion 3 Glenfinnan to Morar. Western margin of the vertical belt and low grade rocks of the western 'flat' belt]] ===

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=== [[Moine geology from Glenfinnan to Morar - an excursion#Western margin of the vertical belt and low grade rocks of the western 'flat' belt|Western margin of the vertical belt and low grade rocks of the western 'flat' belt]] ===

::Locality 3.5 The western limb of the Glenshian Synform [NM 7675 8236] to [NM 7570 8260]

::Locality 3.5 The western limb of the Glenshian Synform [NM 7675 8236] to [NM 7570 8260]

Fig. F.1 Locations of the excursions on a generalized geological map of the Northern Highlands of Scotland.

The Neoproterozoic rocks of the Moine Supergroup underlie an extensive tract of the Lower Palaeozoic Caledonian mountain belt in NW Scotland. The region contains numerous classic geological localities that have been illustrated in geology textbooks for many years. The superb geology of the region continues to attract field parties of amateur groups, undergraduate students and international scientists. This guide is a new edition of the first ‘Moine fieldguide’ that was published by Scottish Academic Press in 1988 on behalf of the Edinburgh and Glasgow geological societies, and is now more or less unavailable. As was the case with the first guide, the aim is to provide an up-to-date summary of the geological evolution of the Moine Supergroup, illustrated by the field evidence on which it is based. Owners of the first fieldguide will see that a number of excursions have survived more or less intact, although at a minimum all have been updated to take account of new geological information, as well as any new outcrops and/or additional constraints on access. Other excursions have been more or less completely rewritten. A key feature of this second edition is the inclusion of new excursions to the Ross of Mull, West Glenelg and Loch Hourn, East Glenelg and Loch Duich, Glen Strathfarrar and Loch Monar, South and Central Sutherland, Durness, and the Great Glen (Fig. F.1).

The editors acknowledge the substantial contributions made by Iain Allison and the late Frank May who co-edited the first ‘Moine fieldguide’. The authors of the various excursions acknowledge discussions with colleagues too numerous to mention, and also the role of the Natural Environment Research Council who funded studentships which allowed much of the research reported here to be carried out.

The aim of this excursion guide is to allow geological field parties to see the wide variety of rocks and structures that occur within the outcrop of the Moine Supergroup, as well as the Moine Thrust Zone that separates these rocks from those of the Caledonian foreland to the NW. The guide has been written for those who have some previous knowledge of geology: informed amateurs, undergraduate students and professional geologists. Books that provide useful background reading include The Mapping of Geological Structures by Ken McClay, and The Field Description of Metamorphic Rocks by Norman Fry, which are both published by John Wiley & Sons as part of their ‘Geological Field Guide Series’. Two other publications that provide much useful background information are the 2002 edition of the Geology of Scotland, published by the Geological Society of London and edited by N. Trewin, and the British Geological Survey Northern Highlands Regional Guide published in 1995.

The excursions are mostly easily accessible from the various roads that cross the Moine outcrop. Statutory rights of public access were established over most land through the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. Nonetheless, stalking of red deer occurs from early August and shooting of grouse from 12 August, and field parties should take account of reasonable requests to minimise disturbance at these times. A guide to access rights is published by the Ramblers’ Association Scotland. Field parties are also reminded that many of the excursions include localities that have Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status and hammering and collection of material at these sites is prohibited without permission. Details of SSSIs can be obtained from Scottish Natural Heritage.

It is assumed that all geological field parties will adhere to the codes of practice for safety published by the Geological Society of London and/or the Geologists’ Association. Visitors to the Scottish Highlands should be aware that the weather can be highly unpredictable, even in summer. Stout footwear, warm clothing and waterproofs are all necessary, even if the weather looks set fair. Generations of Highland geologists will testify to the need to carry insect repellent during the summer months!

Since the publication of the first ‘Moine field guide’ in 1988, a number of new geological maps of the Moine Supergroup have been produced by the British Geological Survey (BGS). Additionally, the application of modern geochronological techniques has placed important constraints on the timing of major metamorphic and structural events. Despite these significant advances, there still remains a lack of consensus concerning the correlations of certain tectonostratigraphic units and structures, and the nature of the Neoproterozoic evolution. In this guide, no attempt has been made to force a single view; individual authors present the evidence on which they base their views and the reader is invited to follow the excursion guide, to study the rocks and their relationships in the field and to form his or her own conclusions.

Geologists have shown that the Moine Supergroup has been affected by several phases of deformation. These phases, giving rise to recognisable sets of structures, may all be part of one mountain-building event spanning some tens of millions of years, or they may be related to different orogenic events perhaps hundreds of millions of years apart. Some structures, formed during a single phase of deformation, can be correlated over large areas, while others are quite local phenomena. One cannot assume, therefore, that structures with certain labels in one excursion are the same as those with the same label in another excursion. The shorthand terms are D for phase of deformation, S for planar fabric (surface), L for a linear fabric and F for folds. Subscripts (e.g. D2) are added to denote which phase is being referred to. Thus S2 is a planar fabric formed during the second (local) phase of deformation (i.e. D2). The term S0 may be used to indicate original sedimentary bedding.

CLIFFORD, T. N. (1957): The stratigraphy and structure of part of the Kintail district of southern Ross-shire – its relationship to the Northern Highlands, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 113, pp. 57-92.

COWARD, M. P. (1988): The Moine Thrust and the Scottish Caledonides, in Geometries and Mechanics of Thrusting, with special reference to the Appalachians, in MITRA, G. and WOJTAL, S. (eds): Geological Society of America Special Paper, 222, pp. 1-16.

FLETT, J. S. (1905): On the petrographic characters of the inliers of Lewisian rocks among the Moine gneisses of the north of Scotland, Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Summary of Progress for 1905, pp. 155-67.

HUTTON, D. H. W. and MCERLEAN, M. (1991): Silurian and Early Devonian sinistral deformation of the Ratagain granite, Scotland: constraints on the age of Caledonian movements on the Great Glen fault system, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 148, pp. 1-4.

HYSLOP, E. K. (1992): Strain-induced metamorphism and pegmatite development in the Moine rocks of Scotland, PhD thesis, University of Hull.

PEACOCK, J. D. (1977): Metagabbros in granitic gneiss, Inverness-shire, and their significance in the structural history of the Moines, Institute of Geological Sciences Report, 77/ 20.

PIASECKI, M. A. J. (1984): Ductile thrusts as time markers in orogenic evolution: an example from the Scottish Caledonides, in GALSON, D. and MUELLER, S. E. (eds): First European Geotraverse Workshop: the northeastern segment (Strasbourg: Publication of the European Science Foundation), pp. 109-14.

PIASECKI, M. A. J. and VAN BREEMEN, O. (1983): Field and isotopic evidence for a c.750 Ma tectonothermal event in the Moine rocks of the central Highland region of the Scottish Caledonides, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 73, pp. 119-34.

POWELL, D., BROOK, M. and BAIRD, A. W. (1983): Structural dating of a Precambrian pegmatite in Moine rocks of northern Scotland and its bearing on the status of the ‘Morarian Orogeny’, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 140, pp. 813-23.

RAMSAY, J. G. (1997): The geometry of a deformed unconformity in the Caledonides of NW Scotland, in SENGUPTA, S. (ed): Evolution of Geological Structures in Micro- to Macro-scales (London: Chapman and Hall), pp. 445-72.

TALBOT, C. J. (1983): Microdiorite sheet intrusions as incompetent time and strain-markers in the Moine assemblage NW of the Great Glen Fault, Scotland, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 74, pp. 137-52.

WINCHESTER, J. A. (1971): Some geochemical distinctions between Moinian and Lewisian rocks and their use in establishing the identity of supposed inliers in the Moinian, Scottish Journal of Geology, 7, pp. 327-44.